Saturday, March 28, 2015

An unusual form
of fantasy baseball was created during World War II when the “War Bonds League”
was formed. Participants bid on players from the three New York major league
teams and followed their on-field performance. Instead of winning money based
on the players’ performance, however, the fantasy leaguers paid in more money for
each base hit, pitcher’s win, etc.

It was all a plan to sell war bonds.

As I wrote on this blog on Feb. 2, Organized Baseball -- from Yankee Stadium to the Class E
Twin Ports League; owners, players and clubhouse boys alike -- relied on the
forbearance of the Federal government to stay alive during World War II.

To assure they retained positive public sentiment, there was no
group more diligent in their efforts to financially support the U.S. war effort
than professional baseball.

The United
States did not finance World War II in the manner in which recent
administrations have done, by deficit spending. WWII was largely funded on a
pay-as-you-go system by selling Series E bonds to the public under the Treasury
Department National Defense Savings Program.

The plan
was brilliantly conceived to prevent rampant inflation during a period when
full employment collided with rationing of even the most basic goods and
services by taking money out of circulation.

Series E
bonds were sold in denominations from $25 to $10,000. Buyers paid 75% of the
bonds’ face value. They were redeemable in 10 years, paying only a modest 2.9%
annual rate of return.

The
government urged citizens to put 10% of their pay into war bonds, and the
American people responded with patriotic fervor. About half of the population,
more than 85 million people, bought $185.7 billion in war bonds at a time when
the median household income in America was about $2,000.

The
suggestion to sell war bonds by auctioning local ballplayers originated with
John H. Callen, assistant administrator of the New York War Saving Staff of the
Treasury Department. The War Bonds
League auction was conducted June 8, 1943, at a luncheon in the ballroom of the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, sponsored by the Treasury Department and the New York
and Brooklyn chapters of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

The
event was attended by some 1,500 businessmen, industrialists, bankers, etc., from
Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn, as well as officials of all three New York
teams and National League President Ford Frick.

The
principal auctioneer was former New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker. He was
assisted by broadcasters Red Barber of the Dodgers and Mel Allen of the Yankees.

The auction was broadcast live by New
York radio station WJZ over the Blue Network, of the American Broadcasting System.

In
a feature in the June 17, 1943, issue of The
Sporting News, Harry Cross of the New York Herald-Tribune reported that the ballplayer auction resulted in
bond sales pledges of $123,850,000, reportedly a new record for a one-day war bond
sales event.

Cross wrote, “Brooklyn money and
Dodgers boosters dominated the unusual gathering. The unbridled enthusiasm of
the Brooklyn War Bond bidders reflected the kind of aggressive interest which
marks Ebbets Field fans.”

The Brooklyn backers drove the price
of six Dodgers players higher than that garnered by any of the Yankees or
Giants. The highest bid was $11,250,000 for Bums’ outfielder Dixie Walker,
followed closely by Arky Vaughan at $11,000,000. Those bids were more than
double that of any other player in the auction.

Bragging rights for Walker were
purchased by the Brooklyn Club, a social organization in the borough, while
Vaughan’s “buyer” was Esso Marketeers, the public relations and promotions arm
of Standard Oil.

The
Sporting News published this list of the player auction results and the
sponsors who won the bids.

In addition to the successful player
surrogate purchases of $88,850,000, the underbidders and others at the luncheon
pledged an additional $35,000,000.

But the auction
bidding was not the end of the fund-raising effort. The sponsor of each player
pledged to buy additional bonds based on the on-field performance of their
players from June 15 through the end of the 1943 season.

Announced performance pledge amounts
were:

Single $2,500

Double $5,000

Triple $7,500

Home Run $10,000

Pitcher’s win $25,000 (later, $35,000)

Pitcher’s shutout $50,000

As an example of the performance
payout, The Sporting News cited the
Dodgers-Giants game on June 15, at which War Bonds League players brought in
some $90,000 in bond pledges.

Brooklyn lost that game at the Polo
Grounds, 5-6. Dodgers players in the WBL had six of the team’s eight hits, all
singles. Vaughan had three hits, Herman had two and Galan had one, worth $2,500
each ($15,000 total).

For the Giants, participating
players had nine of New York’s 11 hits. Bartell, Witek, Melton and Lombardi had
singles. Lombardi also chipped in a double. Ott doubled and homered and Jurges
and Melton each homered, bringing the position players’ count to $50,000 in
pledges. Ace Adams got the win ($25,000).

More casual fans of the players were
also welcomed to buy bonds with points credited to that player’s “team.”

When the season was over, $7,325,000
in war bonds had been sold based on on-field performance. Dixie Walker was
again the top earner, with $257,000 in sales attributed to his game play.

In all, the three New York teams
combined to account for nearly a billion dollars in bond sales -- $947,300,000
– during the 1943 season.

P.S. An interesting side note published in TSN said that the
sponsor of the June 8 auction lunch, Benrus Watch Co., paid $2,000 to host of
the event. The company invited all New York baseball writers to a pre-lunch
meeting. Only a few attended . . . and each received a $100 watch.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Billy Southworth, Jr., (right), shown here with Bob Hope, is often cited as popularizing the trend of U.S. pilots wearing major league baseball caps in WWII.

Uncommon commons: In more than 30 years in sportscards publishing I have thrown hundreds of notes into files about the players – usually non-star players – who made up the majority of the baseball and football cards I collected as a kid. Today, I keep adding to those files as I peruse microfilms ofThe Sporting News from the 1880s through the 1960s. I found these tidbits brought some life to the player pictures on those cards. I figure that if I enjoyed them, you might too.In my blog posting of Oct. 1, 2014, I detailed some instances of the popularity of major league baseball caps with American aviators in World War II. (I can wait here if you want to go back and read that.)The column mentioned that the oft-cited trend setter for that fashion was Army bomber pilot Billy Southworth, Jr., former St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer and son of Cards' manager Billy Southworth, Sr.

The younger Southworth had played in the Cardinals' farm system as an outfielder for six different Redbird minor league teams. He had started in Class D ball in 1936, but by mid-1939 had gotten no higher than Class B ball, where he was named MVP of the Canadian-American League, batting .342 with 15 home runs. He was purchased by Toronto in the International League, the top rung of the Philadelphia Athletics' minor league ladder, for 1940, batting .280 for the season, but with little power.

With American involvement in World War II war looming on the horizon, Southworth enlisted in the U.S. Army as a flight cadet on Dec. 20, 1940. He was among the first pro ball players to enlist in the war.

Southworth's (center) first B-17 was named "Bad Check" because "it always came back."

You can find a great biography of Southworth's baseball and military career at:www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/biographies/southworth_billy_jr.htmlLet me pick out a few items that I found of special interest. Southworth initially flew a B-17F Flying Fortress named Bad Check (because it always came back). His Cardinals cap must have proven lucky because in 25 bombing missions over Occupied France and Germany circa 1943, not a single member of his crews ever earned a Purple Heart. Despite the craft having been shot up by Nazi fighter planes and anti-aircraft shrapnel on several occasions, the Bad Check's crew never received a scratch.

Southworth also piloted "Winning Run," with its cardinal nose art. The ship "always came home" from bombing runs.

Southworth completed his combat tour in another B-17, named Winning Run (because it always came home). As a combat pilot he'd earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, all before the age of 27.After returning to the U.S. in late 1944, he began flying the new B-29 Superfortress. He was promoted to Lt. Col. and deputy commander of a new task force of the 2nd Air Corps.On Feb. 15, 1945, Southworth was piloting a B-29 out of New York when engine trouble developed and he overshot the runway at LaGuardia Field. He crashed into Flushing Bay and was killed; five of his crew survived.

You might think that having never played major league baseball, Southworth didn't have a baseball card. But you'd be wrong. In the 1922 American Caramel Co. card set known as E-121, Billy appears in a miniature Boston Braves uniform on his father's card. He was four or five years old when the photo was taken.Billy was often photographed with his father. The last time the two were together was on Nov. 25, 1944, when they attended the Michigan-Ohio State football game. Young Southworth had attended OSU.

Young Billy had dashing movie star good looks and, indeed,had been promised a Hollywood screen test after the war.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Yesterday I presented my 1940 Play Ball-style minor league cards of Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto.Today I'm showing my 1941 Play Ball Phil Rizzuto rookie card. While Reese was included in the original 1941 Play Ball set, Rizzuto's only card in 1941 was in the Double Play set.By modifying the cap worn by Rizzuto in the photo I used for the 1940-format card, colorizing the portrait and placing it on a modified '41PB background (Johnny Cooney), I've done what I could to recreate a 1941 Play Ball rookie card for the Scooter.

Monday, March 23, 2015

My most recent custom baseball card creations are from my "alternate reality" collection.In 1939-41 Gum Inc. did not include minor league player cards in their baseball issues. Beginning with a 1940-style Lou Novikoff L.A. Angels card (featured on this blog on June 10, 2014), I broke that convention.Now I've added two more minor league cards in that 1940 format: Pee Wee Reese with the Louisville Colonels and Phil Rizzuto with the Kansas City Blues.I did so because . . . well, because I found a couple of great photos of those Hall of Fame shortstops in their minor league days. And sometimes a great photo is reason enough to create a custom card, even if it requires stepping away from what was/is baseball card reality.Since there's little I could tell you about Reese and Rizzuto, I'll just present my new cards for your enjoyment.And tease by telling you to watch this space tomorrow for a 1941-style Phil Rizzuto Play Ball custom.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Uncommon commons: In more than 30 years in sportscards publishing I have thrown hundreds of notes into files about the players – usually non-star players – who made up the majority of the baseball and football cards I collected as a kid. Today, I keep adding to those files as I peruse microfilms of The Sporting News from the 1880s through the 1960s. I found these tidbits brought some life to the player pictures on those cards. I figure that if I enjoyed them, you might too.There's nothing unique about this story of a pitcher who was pulled from the mound late in his no-hitter bid. I'm just publishing it because I can.On July 26, 1965 Bruce Von Hoff of the Cocoa Astros (Class A Florida State League) had a no-hitter going into the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins when he was taken out by manager Billy Goodman, leading 3-0.Per the policy set by general manager Paul Richards of the parent Houston Astros, Von Hoff had reached the maximum pitch count of 110 set for minor league pitchers in the organization.Joe Clement was brought on in relief, gave up a hit, then retired the side.Perhaps as a make-good, Von Hoff was brought up to the Astrodome in the September call-ups. I don't know that his pitching record that season (6-13) qualified him as a prospect worth looking at at the major league level.Von Hoff had been signed as a 20-year-old bonus free agent by the Giants in 1964, out of Northern Illinois University. Groomed as a reliever, he was 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA in Class A and AA ball.In November, 1964, the Astros picked Von Hoff under the old first-year-player draft system then in operation in yet another futile attempt by the owners to hold down bonuses.The Houston chain moved Von Hoff out of the bullpen and put him in the rotation.While his minor-league record in 1965 wasn't stellar, realistically he had little support. Von Hoff had an ERA of just 2.53 for Cocoa. The C-Astros, however, were arguably the worst team in the league. They finished the season in last place, 32-1/2 games out. As a team they batted only .192 for the season, and their 1,199 strikeouts were nearly 20% worse than the runner-up.For whatever reason, Von Hoff did get the call to Houston when the rosters expanded. The Astros had been firmly in ninth place for two months, ahead only of the Mets.Von Hoff appeared in three games in the 'Dome, trotted out to the mound for an inning's work each in 1-7, 8-19 and 2-5 losses.In truth, he did OK in two of those games. Retiring the Braves and Cardinals with no hits or walks in closing out those games. He was, however, shelled by St. Louis in between. He was called on in the seventh with the Cards ahead 13-2. He gave up three singles and walked two for three earned runs before getting out of the inning. His rookie year in the majors showed him 0-0 with an ERA of 9.00.Von Hoff went to the Florida Instructional League in the off-season where he was 0-5. He spent the entire 1966 season in the minors -- where he got his no-hitter! On Aug. 10, pitching for the Durham Bulls in the Carolina League, Von Hoff no-hit Rocky Mount and won 5-0. He was 9-4 with a 2.85 ERA in Class A, but was 0-4 with an ERA well over 9.00 at AA and AAA that season.Splitting time again between AAA Oklahoma City and AA Amarillo in 1967, Von Hoff was 4-6 with an ERA of 4.32 when he was again brought up to Houston in mid-August, with the Astros in last place in the NL.This time the big club used him as a starter and he opened 10 games. He figured in only three decisions, all losses, with an ERA of 5.19.By the time Von Hoff's only mainstream baseball card came out in the 1968 Topps set, his major-league career was behind him.He played three more years in the minors. He was 0-5 for Dallas-Ft. Worth (AA Houston) in 1968, 6-3 with Asheville (AA Cincinnati) in 1969 and 4-8 in 1970 with St. Petersburg and Arkansas (A, AA St. Louis). He left pro ball then at the age of 26.Overall, in his seven minor league seasons, Von Hoff had a 30-44 record and 3.96 ERA.He died in Florida in 2012 at the age of 68. In retirement in Gulfport, Fla., he had founded an after-school program for kids at his church, coached youth sports teams and worked with the elderly.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

If you follow my blog regularly, you know I've recently been busy with custom cards in the format of the 1955 Topps All-American college football set.My latest is a tribute to one of the Wisconsin Badgers' finest running backs, Montee Ball.While he hasn't (yet) wowed the NFL in the same way he did the NCAA, it's still early in his pro career and there may be bigger things coming for him. Even if he never played another down in the NFL, however, his stature as one of the premier running backs in college ranks in the early 2010s earned him a spot on my checklist.

Where was Penn State'srespect for Montee Ball?

The incident of Aaron's 200th hit going unmentioned in the ballpark that I detailed on this blog on Feb. 26 brings to mind a similar situation I encountered while in attendance at the Wisconsin-Penn State game on Nov. 24, 2012.The Nittany Lions were hosting Wisconsin in the final game of the season. Badgers running back Montee Ball entered the game tied for the NCAA FBS major college record in career rushing touchdowns scored.

In the first quarter Ball broke the record with a 17-yard run; his 79th career TD. I waited in vain for the stadium announcement of Ball's feat. It never came; no announcement, no message on the score board, nothing. I'm sure that many of the fans were made aware of the accomplishment via their smart phones, tablets, etc., but I thought it was bush for Penn State to go mum on the subject.About all I can figure is that the school didn't want to embarrass its defense by making public note that Ball had achieved his record on their watch.

Monday, March 16, 2015

When I get to what I envision heaven to be, one of the first things I want to do is go to old Borchard Field in Milwaukee, circa the mid-1940s, and sit in the bleachers with Bill Veeck watching his Brewers play one of their American Association rivals.Of course Dad will be there, too, because the guys on the field are those who he grew up reading about in the sports pages and of whom he told me countless stories as a kid.At some point after a few cool Pabst Blue Ribbons, I'm going to ask Veeck . . . "What the hell were you thinking, enlisting in the Marines?"Veeck, aged 29, married and the father of three, had little to fear from the World War II draft. But after meeting Sgt. Barney Ross, a three-division world boxing champion and Marine hero at Guadacanal at, Toots Shor's New York nightclub during baseball's winter meetings, Veeck joined the USMC on Nov. 26, 1943.

1948 Leaf Knock-Out boxing set.

Ross was one of that era's great Jewish boxers, symbolically standing up for his race in the face of Hitler's ungodly Final Solution.The boxer might have enthralled Veeck with the story of how he won the Silver Night one night on Guadalcanal, killing nearly two dozen Japanese soldiers while wounded and pinned in a foxhole with three wounded Marines, eventually carrying the only other survivor to safety on his shoulders.Veeck himself eventually saw action with the Marines in the Pacific. While working an artillery crew a big gun recoiled back on his right leg. Over the next few decades doctors whittled away on that leg in three dozen operations that eventually cost him everything from just above the knee. I'd guess "Sport Shirt Bill" must have asked himself that same question shortly after he reported for duty and was issued his G.I. uniform. For the decade previous he was seldom seen in shoes -- he preferred sandals -- and never wore a necktie or a hat. But, as he told reporters before shoving off to boot camp, "Rules is rules."I suppose it could have been worse . . . Ross might have regaled Veeck with stories of working as a leg-breaker and bagman for Al Capone in Chicago in the early 1930s.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

I've spent a lot of time this past month working on six custom cards of one of all-time favorite Milwaukee Braves, Warren Spahn. You can find information on my 1954 and 1955 Bowman-style Spahn cards in my blog entry of Feb. 28. My 1969 and 1971 Topps-style Tulsa Oilers manager's cards were detailed here on March 4, and my 1972 Indians coach card was shown on March 11.This reworking of a 1965 Topps-style card of Spahnie as pitcher-coach of the N.Y. Mets is likely to be my final Spahn custom.

The "real" 1965 ToppsWarren Spahn card.

You can't fault Topps for its 1965 Warren Spahn card. He was sold from the Braves to the Mets in November, 1964, and the gum company wouldn't have had the opportunity to get a photo of Spahn on Mets uniform in time for its Third Series. Thus he's pictured capless in a Braves jersey on card #205.I, on the other hand, could take advantage of numerous quality color images of Spahn in an actual Mets uniform to come up with my remake.In doing my research on Spahn's post-Milwaukee days, I learned a lot I didn't know, principally from reading back-issue microfilm of The Sporting News. In 1965 I had put my card collecting on hiatus and, for the most part, abandoned my interest in baseball in favor of following the American Football League.What I found most interesting in my review of 50-year-old baseball "news" was the feud that had developed between Spahn and Braves manager Bobby Bragan in 1964, and led to the player and team parting ways.In the Dec. 19, 1964 Sporting News, the paper's Milwaukee correspondent aired the dispute in this article.

Scathing Words Fuel Hot Feud

As Bragan, Spahn Swap Insults

By BOB WOLF

MILWAUKEE, Wis.

Manager Bobby Bragan of the Braves
pulled no punches in a verbal blast at Warren Spahn, the future Hall of Fame
candidate who was sold to the Mets recently.

Bragan said that the 43-year-old
veteran, winningest lefthanded pitcher of all time, had been so ineffective
last season that only his “name” had kept him in the major leagues. He also
charged that Spahn had worried only about himself and his $80,000 salary.

Spahn returned the fire, saying,
“Bragan does things like that.” He added that the outspoken manager had also
said uncomplimentary things about other players after they had left the Braves.

The duel of words actually started
the day Spahn was sold to the Mets, November 23. Spahn hinted then that every
move made by Bragan and Braves’ President John McHale last season seemed to be
predicated on the rumored switch to Atlanta. He said, among other things, “Just
when a player would get hot, Bragan would take him out of the lineup.”

Salary-Minded, Bragan Says

Bragan’s
barrage went like this: “Spahn could have helped us a reliever late in the
season if he hadn’t been thinking about that $80,000 salary of his. He knows he
can’t be cut more than 25 per cent under baseball law, so he can bluff his way
through next season and still not take a very big salary cut. He’s not thinking
of the team. He’s thinking about Warren Spahn—the great Spahnie.

“He’s a
future Hall of Famer and an immortal and all that stuff. But let me tell you
that if any other pitcher had been shelled the way he was last season, he would
have been shipped to Denver. But this was Warren Spahn and he had to be handled
with great care, even if he couldn’t get anybody out.

“He got old
all of a sudden. After all; he was 43 and how long did he expect to go on?
Other great players have faced up to it and quit—Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio. But
not Warren Spahn.

“He stopped
smoking and that’s dangerous because a guy has a tendency to eat when he’s used
to reaching for a cigarette. He was ten to 15 pounds overweight all season. He
was dead on his feet. His legs were gone. He couldn’t get off the mound and
they were bunting him silly. On top of
that, his control was terrible.

“I see now
that he’s shooting off his mouth about how I didn’t start him enough and that
he can win those 44 games he needs to hit 400. Truthfully, I started him too
often.”

Bragan said
that Spahn had been offered a radio job with the Braves for $50,000, and said, “You
think he’d take that? You think he’d come down to $50,000 a year? Not good old
Spahnie.”

And here is
Spahn’s retort: “Bragan does things like that. He hasn’t said anything about me
that he hasn’t said about other players who left the club. Lou Burdette, Del
Crandall, you name them.

“But I
prefer not to get into a running argument with him. All I’m interested in is
having a good year with the Mets and proving that Bragan is wrong.

Blames Inactivity for Wildness

“I don’t
deny that my control was off, but I’ve always contended that a pitcher has to
work regularly and I wasn’t doing that the last half of the season.

“I thought
we had the best club in the league, but when he did things like starting a
couple of rookies (Dan Schneider and Clay Carroll) in a double-header at Chicago,
it made you wonder whether he wanted to win.

“Talk to
the other players about Bragan. You’ll find out how much he was disliked.

“As for the
radio job he was talking about, I never received anything like a concrete offer
with definite terms. They got rid of me because of the money—my salary.”

Asked
whether he would have retired rather than play for Bragan again, Spahn said, “I
wouldn’t have let him run me out of baseball.”

Despite the
Spahn-Bragan war of words, the Braves’ stockholders voted unanimously at their
Dec. 11 meeting to retire Spahn’s uniform number 21, worn during his 20 seasons
with Boston and Milwaukee.

(At that
same stockholders meeting, all of the Wisconsin members of the Braves’ board of
directors were ousted, including Vince Lombardi. Nominated for a seat on the
board, but roundly defeated, was “Allan (Bud) Selig, Milwaukee automobile
dealer.”)

Spahn was
able to get uniform number 21 from the Mets when first baseman Ed Kranepool,
who had worn the number since the team was formed, gave it to the veteran.
Kranepool took #7. Later in the year, when Spahn went to the Giants, he was given #21 by Len Gabrielson, who also took #7.

As the new
year rolled around, Spahn tried to quell the war of words with Bragan, telling
the Milwaukee writers, “I would like to prove Bragan wrong by my deeds rather
than by any comments. I want to do well in 1965 to make him eat his words.”

Bragan,
however continued to publicly needle Spahn.

At the
Milwaukee Baseball Writers’ annual Diamond Dinner on Jan. 24, the Braves’
manager, in his dinner speech, said, “I’d like to say that one of the basic
reasons we thought it best for Spahnie to go to the Mets was that he and Casey
Stengel had more in common. Not age—wealth. As far as I’m concerned, Spahnie,
there’s no feud and I hope you win 400 games.”

Bragan then
recited a little verse, “Whatever I said in anger and whatever I shouted in
spite, I’m sorry that I said those words, ‘cause I thought of some worse ones
last night.”

Spahn sat
expressionless during Bragan’s remarks and did not answer them when he spoke
later in the program. He poked a little fun at himself when he said, “It is
wonderful to be here. Not many six-game winners are honored like this.”

After a
brief contract dispute, Spahn took up his duties with the Mets at spring
training. It was reported that he would be paid $65,000 as a player-coach,
about 20% less than his last Braves salary. Baseball rules at the time would
have allowed New York to cut his salary by a maximum of 25%.

Spahn made
his Mets mound debut starting the second game of Grapefruit League spring
training against the World’s Champion St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched three
innings, giving up four hits and three runs, walking three and striking out one
in taking the 3-4 loss to Bob Gibson. Fellow player-coach Yogi Berra was behind
the plate during Spahn’s outing.

He took the
mound again on March 20, pitching four innings of scoreless relief in a 2-3
loss to the White Sox.

In his last
two spring training games, Spahn started and got the wins. On March 25 he
defeated the Yankees 3-2; on April 4 he beat the Tigers 3-4.

Spahn’s win
over the Yankees came largely as a result of his hitting. He was 2-for-2 with a
sac fly at the plate, including a home run and two RBIs. Against the Tigers he
continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-3 day and another pair of RBIs.

While Spahn
was 2-2 in his spring training exhibitions, the Mets didn’t fare as well. They
had a spring record of 11-15-1, worst among NL teams.

Spahn made
his first appearance back in Milwaukee for special pre-game ceremonies at the
Braves’ final opening day in Milwaukee on April 15. He had started and gone
eight innings in a no-decision against the Astros in New York the previous day.
He and other members of the 1953 Braves team were introduced and trotted out to the
positions they had played when the team debuted in Milwaukee in 1953. He was
attired in his Mets uniform and received a standing ovation.

Returning
to his new team, Spahn won his next two starts, both complete games, at Los
Angeles and San Francisco.

Spahn got another win on May 3, but it doesn't appear in the official record. He was credited with the Mets' victory over the N.Y. Yankees in the annual Mayor's Trophy Game, which benefited New York sandlot baseball projects. Spahn pitched one inning in relief in the 2-1 10-inning victory. Fellow Mets player-coach Yogi Berra did not appear in Yankee Stadium in the game against the team that had fired him after losing the '64 World Series.

When he
made his first appearance on the mound back in Milwaukee on May 20, his record
was 3-3. The turnout was the largest since opening day and they were there to cheer on their old hero. Spahn cruised through the first four innings, shutting out the Braves
on just two singles, walking nobody and striking out a pair. The wheels came
off in the fifth. He gave up seven earned runs, including a grand slam to Eddie
Mathews. Spahn took the loss 1-7.

Spahn rebounded on May 24th with a 6-2 victory at Philadelphia. The win was career number 360 and it raised him to sixth place on the all-time major league wins list. Later in the season, on Sept. 27 while pitching for the Giants, Spahn got St. Louis Cardinals catcher Bob Uecker looking at a called third strike. It was strikeout number 2,528, breaking a tie with Bob Feller and moving Spahnie up to third place on the all-time career strikeouts list. At that time he was behind only Tim Keefe and Cy Young on the list.

On June 29, Spahn again took the mound against the Braves when Milwaukee visited Shea Stadium. He
lost again, 8-6. It was his seventh straight losing decision, bringing his
season record to 4-11. In six innings thrown, he gave up eight hits, including
home runs to Frank Boling, Gene Oliver and Eddie Mathews.

Spahn had
been unable to make Bragan “eat his words.”

With the Mets mired in last place,
27-1/2 games off the pace, Spahn was given his release on July 17. Two days later,
the S.F. Giants, picked him up to bolster their staff in the midst of a pennant
race. At the time, San Francisco had only two left-handers on its pitching staff, both relievers, Bill Henry and Masanori Murakami. Giants manager Herman Franks was not exactly effusive over his new staff addition. "What can we lose?", he asked rhetorically. Maybe he's through, maybe he isn't. So let's take a look. We'll use him as a spot starter and middle-inning relief man. He can win a couple of games for us. And in a pennant race such as we have going, a couple of wins could be the difference." Spahn made his Giants debut in San Francisco on July 22 against the Reds. The press reported he got a standing ovation as he took the mound to start the game and another when he was lifted in the top of the third with the Reds ahead 3-1. Though he didn't factor in the decision, Spahn had immediately paid dividends for the Giants. Paid attendance was nearly 18,000, with nearly 12,000 more ladies' day and kids' tickets swelling the crowd. A Giants official credited the crowd to Spahn, saying they would normally expected fewer than 10,000 at a Thursday afternoon game. The second batter Spahn faced in his Giants bow was Pete Rose, who homered. The blow brought Rose's 1965 average against Spahn to .692 (9-for-13). Overall, in the years Spahn faced Rose (1963-65), the Reds' infielder compiled a .531 average (17-for-32) against him. The Giants climbed from fourth place to first between the time Spahn joined the
team and Sept. 7. They held onto the pennant lead until Sept. 28,
finishing the season in second place.

Spahn took
his regular turn as a starter, with occasional relief appearances, for San
Francisco through the end of the season, winning three more and losing three
more to end his season with a 7-16 record and an ERA of 4.01.

His last
outing against the Braves had come in Milwaukee on Aug. 1. He pitched two
innings in relief to close the game with a 2-4 loss, though he didn’t figure in
the decision.

When Spahn
had joined the Mets as pitching coach, he found a staff that over the season
averaged just 25 years of age. Of the 20 pitchers who took the mound for the
Mets in 1965, only three achieved winning records and the team ended the year
last in the National League in losses, saves, ERA and strikeouts.

By
insisting on being carried as a player-coach, Spahn had deprived the Mets of
one roster spot, though it’s unlikely that had any effect on the team’s 50-112
record.

As I mentioned, this will likely be my last Spahn custom. In the absence of any suitable color photo of Spahn with San Francisco, it would be easy enough to colorize an extant black-and-white portrait photo of Spahn in a Giants cap for a 1966-style card. I have yet to see any photo of him when he was with the Mexico City Tigers in 1966. While there are several nice photos of Spahn with the Angels as a coach in the 1970s, I haven't found any photos of his days with the Hiroshima Toiyo Carp in Japan in the 1970s.

About Me

I have been a baseball card (and other bubblegum cards) collector since the age of three. I am the former editor and publisher of the sportscards and memorabilia periodicals and books at Krause Publications (SCD, et al). I am the former editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.